Third-grade students at Weisenberg Elementary have been exploring poetry with their teachers Patricia Holmes, Nicole Mizak, Brooke Rutherford and Beth Stark.

Prior to creating their poetic verses, students learned that poetry should contain rhyme, have rhythm and be repetitive.

The students began the process by handwriting five poems for their booklet and revising it with the help of a peer in their classroom.

The booklet was to contain one couplet, the simplest form of poetry with two lines the same, three free verse and one poem of the student's choice.

When the poems were complete, they used MaxWrite, a word program allowing them to customize and publish their work by adding borders to pages, pictures, alternate colors of letters and more.

On Jan. 15, they read one of their poems in front of the class using a microphone.

Classmates showed their appreciation by snapping their fingers, a tradition at poetry readings that started in the '50s in Greenwich Village, N.Y., where Beatniks read their poetry.